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n a recent survey by Newsweek magazine, Palo Alto High School ranked 161 out of the top two thousand public high schools in the United States. Paly moved up 17 slots from its 178 spot in the 2012 rankings.

According to Newsweek, the top two thousand high schools are the most effective in preparing students for college.

The six components used to create the rankings are the high school’s graduation rate, college acceptance rate, average AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student, average SAT/ACT scores and percentage of students enrolled in an AP/IB/AICE course.

Paly has a 95 percent graduation rate and college-bound rate, and its students boast an average SAT score of 1935, ACT score of 28 and Advanced Placement test score of 4.3. Newsweek used these scores to calculate the school assessment score, which is taken out of 5. Paly’s school assessment score for 2013 is 3.47.

Other high schools around the Bay Area appeared on the list, including Saratoga High School (81), Monta Vista High School (103), Mission San Jose High School (114) and Lynbrook High School (122). Henry M. Gunn High School was ranked 583 in the nation; however, it should be noted that there were data corrections sent to Newsweek after they created the list.